We talk W/ Mamasuper after the success of his son KidSuper at PFW

Many things can be said about Colm Dillane (KidSuper), especially now that he has become one of the men of the moment after the dizzying success of his work at Louis Vuitton. Not to mention the comedy show that overshadowed all the events of the Paris Fashion Week, with hundreds of fans crowding the Casino de Paris (even the police had to show up there).

Beyond his career as a designer, KidSuper has infected the world with his energy and humility. His positivism and his plainness are possibly one of the ingredients of his formula for success. Surely the relationship with his parents has also had a lot to do with it. That’s why today, we meet Jeanne Quinn, Mamasuper, to know where Colm comes from and to understand her unique vision of the world:

Highxtar (H) – Colm Dillane has always been characterized for being a free soul. You have traveled a lot, what are your origins and how did they affect the Kid:

MamaSuper(MS) –My mother is Spanish, but her family went to France during Franco’s time, they were miners in Asturias. My father is American, and they both met in Paris, because he went to Paris in the 30s or 40s… that time of Americans going to Paris, you know.

Then I was born in Casablanca, Morocco, because that was my father’s first job as an engineer. We traveled all over the world. Then I met Peter in New York. I told him I was never going to travel again, he’s Irish. It’s like I married my father because he looks exactly like him. Then we went backpacking for a year in South America, and then Peter got his degree, and then he got jobs overseas. During that time Colm grew up, he’s the only real citizen of the U.S. He started traveling with us. He lived in Mexico and Wisconsin, New York…. We went back and forth, yes. We’re freedom-loving people.

Peter’s idea of parenting is that “you can do what you want, but you can’t quit.” Not like someone who wants to be this and that…. So when Colm wanted to be a soccer player, he went to Brazil for a year between high school and college. Because if he hadn’t gone, he would have blamed us for ruining his career. He went and realized he’s good in the United States, but he’s not so good in Brazil, so there was an awakening. Then he went back to school. He started making T-shirts, and he was selling them in the cafeteria. Then he went to NYU and his T-shirts became a bigger thing and he turned his room into a studio and got kicked out. That’s how he got his first little space in Brooklyn.

(H) – How did you feel when he was kicked out? In a way, were you proud?

(MS) – Yes, absolutely. It wasn’t a mistake really. I mean, they should be happy that somebody was doing creative things. So it wasn’t a problem, because this actually helped him. If they hadn’t kicked him out, he wouldn’t have gotten the space in Brooklyn, he wouldn’t have been who he is.

(H) – You’re sort of like a painting assistant to him.

(MS) – Peter is “the mind” of, you know, how to do things. I’m much more the creative mind and Colm is a combination of the two, because he’s very crazy, but he has an intense focus. And he got that from Peter. He got the artistic stuff from me. So yes, I’m his assistant.

(H) – What is the best and worst part of being his assistant?

(MS) –There is no bad part with Colm because he is a great person. He’s funny, caring, attentive. He doesn’t take himself seriously. He’s not a snob. You know, he loves people. He has no downtime and he works. He doesn’t even work with music, it’s pure work. I’ve never seen anything like it. Even when he was young. But he’s also crazy, so he takes a lot of risks in tremendous sense of humor.

(H) –What was it like when the Louis Vuitton opportunity came into your lives?

(MS) –Well, it was a big secret for three months. So we couldn’t tell anybody. So it was three months of waiting. But he has a very good relationship with them [Louis Vuitton], and he said they were amazing. He thought they were going to be very strict, very uptight, very conservative, and they just gave him a free hand with what he wanted to do. He says it’s so easy because there are so many assistants…He comes up with an idea and everyone does it. In his job, his brand (KidSuper), he has to do everything himself, so it was a very good lesson for him.

(H) – Colm is a big fan of Rosalia, what was it like to meet her at LV Show?

(MS) – The thing is that Colm, (I don’t know if it was a couple of years ago), told me “I have a huge crush on the singer Rosalía” and we didn’t know who she was. Then he started doing this spectacular modern flamenco thing.

But Colm had nothing to do with getting her for the show at all. It was a pre-planned thing. And it was amazing. She put her heart and soul into it. She took it very seriously: she practiced, she worked with everybody. Really impressive.

(H) – How is the relationship between MamaSuper, PapaSuper y KidSuper?

(MS) – We are more like friends than a paternal-filial relationship. He’s always calling us, always sending us stuff, always asking our opinion. I mean, yes, we are the same kind of people. Sometimes your kids are very different from you. Like me, I was very different from my parents. But the three of us are very much the same.

(H) – Are you Colm’s biggest critic? Or do you just try not to criticize him too much and be supportive?

(MS) – Oh, I’m very critical. I just told him (because he’s doing the comedy show in New York) to be careful. I tell him “you’re a designer, not an entrepreneur.” He laughs but I urge him to get his feet on the ground and not to get too crazy.

(H) – Yeah, I think part of what the brand is too, what he is. Jeff Ross says it on the show, that he doesn’t take himself too seriously, but he takes his art very seriously. That’s what the brand identity is.

(MS) – That’s the identity, and that’s the agenda to keep. I don’t want him to go too much with comedy and then this, and then that…. I say, “Okay, that’s great, but show this part.” However he can give you a comedy show. It comes out of his head. So he loves all that. He also loves making little movies. He’s very creative that way, yeah.

(H) – What about J.Balvin in the Comedy show?

(MS) – I guess we both love J BALVIN. I mean, that’s what I’m saying about how people love Colm. J.Balvin shouldn’t have had to be involved in the KidSuper show; he didn’t get paid. He said “I’m here for me, my brother Colm”. And he has always supported him, he was also in the previous parade.

(H) –  Were both parents afraid when Colm started his journey in the fashion world? Fashion can be a very cold world, sometimes it’s very superficial…

(MS) – No, not that, because he’s so himself that he’s never going to change for anything. But it’s more the financial thing. I mean, so many young designers crash because they have to buy the product, they have to sell the product, they have to make the sale, they have to…. Colm was very lucky because he started doing collaborations very quickly, and that really helped him pay the bills. But if you go on to do a fashion show, and you don’t have that support, you go bankrupt.

(H) – What is the best thing about Colm if you have to tell us one thing, and the worst thing?

(MS) –The best thing is his love of life. The worst thing is that he never cooks. He does everything over the phone (ordering food). And his house is piled up with a million things. If you go there, you’re like trying to find things. Yeah, it’s a little messy too.

(H) –I think all creative people are a little bit like that. Yes. They find order in disorder.

(MS) –My husband is like that, too, incredibly messy. And he knows where everything is. But if you touch him, well, he gets upset. Yeah. He’s like that.

(H) – What’s your favorite piece of KidSuper?

(MS) –Ah, that’s hard to know. I think the bags because, they’re going to be iconic. They’re so beautiful. And also because, it’s two people kissing and it’s not a negative thing, it’s a positive thing, full of humor and love. Right. So yeah, I think people will love it. And they come in different sizes.

(H) – So there’s no bad piece in KidSuper?

(MS) – Well, for me, because I’m small, and I’m a woman, some of the things are too big and too colorful. So, I always try to combine pieces. I usually wear one piece from kidsuper, and then something else. Some people who are tall can wear everything.

(H) – What’s it like being Colm’s mom now that he’s designed for Louis Vuitton? You know, he’s going to be super in demand…

(MS) – It’s completely the same. Colm has got a lot of work to do because he’s redoing a whole building now, and that’s going very slowly, so he’s back in New York and he’s got a lot of work. He’s got to make sure that the architects and everybody is working because, you know, they say a year and it’s been three…and they still haven’t finished the bathroom or something. Yeah, so yeah, it’s back to what he was doing before basically.

(H) – What’s going to happen after Louis Vuitton?

(MS) – The best thing he can do is keep working on his KidSuper stuff. Because he has no idea what’s going on. So he just went back to New York and he’s focusing on his stuff. You can’t really expect anything, you know, he’s got to move on. But what’s for sure is that he learned a lot, so it was a good experience.